ARTIST, HEAD OF THE VISUAL ARTS DEPARTMENT, THE SPENCE SCHOOL, NEW YORK “I was drawn to art from a young age, but it was not until I came to Scripps that I could follow these interests. I thrived at Scripps. Teachers encouraged me to explore, question and delve into everything I studied. I learned to […]

I hand build asymmetrical vessels. Sculpturally, their form is simple and organic, pushing the limits with their thin walls. My influences include the glazes of ancient East Asian and Persian ceramics, as well as the aesthetics of modernism. They are raku and luster fired.

Mary MacNaughton is Director of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery and Associate Professor of Art History at Scripps. In 2001 she received the Southern California ArtTable Distinguished Women in the Arts Award.

“Leading a national arts and humanities organization with over 15,000 members has been a challenge. I am continually grateful to Scripps not only for giving me a broad background in the arts and humanities, but also for demanding solid, analytical thinking.”

“It’s impossible to imagine working as an art critic, reporter, and feature writer for a major urban newspaper without the kind of background Scripps provided. Just as no academic course stood alone in my Scripps years, no art world event can be isolated from the larger cultural sphere.”

“I’m not making a moral or political judgement. I’m interested in the big picture. Coming out of Scripps, you have a way of reasoning about the world, connecting with the time in which you’re living while at the same time attempting to maintain an awareness of the larger realities of both the past and the […]

“The structure, the broad historical model, taught at Scripps allowed me to understand how visual art connects to other arts as well as politics and social issues, and how all these currents relate in the present, within one artist’s life. It was a revelation, a joy, and still a beacon!”

“At Scripps I was most interested in biology, botany, and art. The library had books with pictures of plants that made an impression on me. In my senior year, I also remember a course I took in crystallography. I am now a certified gemologist, and that would not have happened without my studies.”

After graduating from Scripps College this Santa Cruz California native founded V.C.Torias, Inc. and has been designing its line of hand-painted women’s clothing for 15 years. In a small boutique in Northern California, Sheldon pioneered the concept of “art to wear”.

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Scripps College

Scripps College, founded in 1926, is a nationally top-ranked liberal arts college and a member of The Claremont Colleges. With approximately 900 students, Scripps College offers an intense learning experience with small classes on a campus famous for its beauty. As part of a consortium with four other colleges in immediate proximity and two graduate institutions, Scripps offers its students the benefits of a larger university, with shared facilities, co-curricular activities, and ability to cross-register at any or all of the colleges. The mission of the College is to develop in its students the ability to think clearly and independently, and the ability to live confidently, courageously, and hopefully.”